By Tamer El-Ghobashy
- Associated Press
- New York Police Department chief Joseph Esposito addresses the Occupy Wall Street protesters as they arrive at Times Square for a rally in October 2011.
Though he was the highest-ranking uniformed officer in the New York Police Department, outgoing chief of department Joseph Esposito toiled in relative anonymity.
He was the stoic and unsmiling presence behind Commissioner Raymond Kelly at public events, while behind the scenes, he was the leader of rank and file officers who coordinated the department’s response to some of the city’s most dramatic and headline grabbing events.
But in October 2011, the four-star chief’s public profile was raised considerably: during the infancy of the Occupy Wall Street movement, Esposito – with 43 years in the department – finally gained recognition.
Esposito–long known within the department for eschewing his executive office for the intimacy of the street– was a steady presence at the roving Occupy protests and at its encampment at Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan.
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He led the small army of so-called “white shirts,” high-ranking officers who responded to the protests to coordinate mass arrests and to negotiate protest routes with the sometimes-unruly gathered.
In one memorable encounter on Oct. 16, 2011, Esposito was hailed as a hero by his traditional foes when he came between a spontaneous march of hundreds and his officers in Times Square.
As evening descended that day, the marchers began to clash with officers as they sought to knock down barriers that had been set up to pen them into a specific part of the tourist-heavy square.
Officers wearing riot helmets pushed back against the surge as police horses were sent into the mass of civilians – causing moments of panic as protestors attempted to avoid being tread upon by the large animals.
Video of the incident shows a stout figure, wearing a white NYPD shirt with four stars on the lapels, in the middle of the fracas, attempting to get in between the officers and protestors, losing his navy blue police cap in the process.
It was Esposito. Moments later, he retrieved his cap and calmly motioned for his troops to take several steps back, restoring order to what appeared to be an escalating and dangerous confrontation.
The protesters erupted into cheers – some chanting “Esposito! Esposito!”
Esposito smiled broadly and waved at the crowd.
“Isn’t that great? Isn’t that absolutely phenomenal?” Esposito said with a wide grin as he recalled the incident during an interview with the Wall Street Journal ahead of his mandatory retirement on Wednesday. (According to the city’s administrative code, no uniformed officer can serve beyond their 63rd birthday.)
To long-time protestors, the incident was typical of Esposito’s style. While enforcing what are often criticized as heavy-handed NYPD tactics during large demonstrations, Esposito always had a knack for playing peace maker.
That October evening was Esposito’s fondest memory of Occupy, he said. He recalled that even his subordinates were stunned that he had pulled them back.
“I was confident enough after 12 years to take a chance and it worked,” he said, referencing his tenure as chief of department, the longest in the NYPD’s modern history. “Would I have made that decision in my first year as chief of department? Maybe not. I was willing to say, ‘Let’s take a chance.’”
By his own admission, Esposito also “mixed it up” with Occupy protestors and “they’ve criticized me for that.”
“You just can’t make everyone happy all the time,” he said.
That was certainly true for many.
William Dobbs, a member of the Occupy press team, said in an interview that Esposito’s presence was “alarming and chilling” and “set a tone where repression of protest was everyday business for the NYPD.”
“There’s been a tremendous amount of repression of dissent in New York City,” Dobbs said. “That is part of Esposito’s legacy because he’s atop the police department.”
In one video posted on YouTube, a cigar-chomping Esposito is seen standing outside of Zuccotti Park observing, while the camera operator attempts to engage him in a conversation – inviting the chief out to dinner and a movie and dancing.
Esposito does not respond. But when the voice behind the camera thanks him for his actions during the Times Square protests, then admonishes him for not doing the same at a protest one month later, Esposito nods and then shrugs.
“I’d be batting .500 right?” Esposito responded. “I’d be in the Hall of Fame wouldn’t I?”
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